With a click, photographer wins top prize

Photographer Brian Hampton sat in an off-road vehicle on an African plain on the tail of a pack of big cats.

Kartikay Mehrotra

Photographer Brian Hampton sat in an off-road vehicle on an African plain on the tail of a pack of big cats.

“The first lion started to cross the river. Then all of a sudden the lion just exploded, trying to get across as fast as possible,” he said. “You could see the fear and intensity in its eyes.”

The moment was over in 4 or 5 seconds. Among the photos Hampton clicked off was one that captured one the most prestigious prizes awarded for photography: grand prize in the Windland Smith Rice International Awards 2008, presented by Nature’s Best magazine.

“It’s the composition, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Mike Morrison, a contest judge and Hampton’s lifelong friend. “It’s the fact that this lion is coming straight for the photographer, and it’s just a moment with the water up in the air.”

The photo, taken in December 2007, is on display at Giovanni’s in Rockford, and through May 3 at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

Hampton, 63, a Rockford-born entrepreneur who has started and sold a number of area businesses, runs software provider Cleo Communications.

“I submitted several images. There were four in the finals,” he said. “I was just delighted when the publisher called.”